College Football Recruiting: Dontre Wilson Ready To Flip On Commitment To Oregon Ducks For Ohio State Buckeyes

By Tyler Brett

Kim Klement – USA TODAY Sports

The Oregon Duckshave been able to keep their recruiting class largely intact following the departure of head coach Chip Kelly to the NFL. However, it was unlikely they would be able to keep all of their commitments heading into national signing day and the Ohio State Buckeyesprepare to reap the benefits as four-star athlete Dontre Wilson appears ready to flip on Eugene for Columbus.

Wilson, the No. 5 rated athlete out of DeSoto, Texas, has been committed to Oregon since last May. Since then, he’s been locked down for the most part thanks to Kelly’s hard-line rule against commits taking official visits to other schools. But with Kelly gone, Wilson took advantage to see what else was out there in the college football landscape.

And waiting to meet him was Urban Meyer and Ohio State. The Buckeyes run a similar spread attack to Oregon on offense that will utilize Wilson’s elite athletic ability. And with Meyer, Wilson knows exactly what kind of offense the Buckeyes will run and how he fits into it. Oregon, meanwhile, is a big of a question mark with Mark Helfrich taking over in his first run as a head coach.

Getting Wilson to Columbus would be a huge boost for the Buckeyes as the speedy playmaker has been pegged as the perfect fit for Meyer’s “Percy Harvin” role that he’s been looking for in their spread offense. He’ll enjoy the benefit of immediate playing time, the creative offensive mind of Meyer and getting to play alongside fellow playmaker Braxton Miller at quarterback. It’s a combination too enticing for him to pass up.

For the moment, Wilson is still committed to Oregon and the Ducks would be ecstatic to keep him, but with a TV announcement coming tonight from Wilson, it’s unlikely he would go to all the trouble just to announce he is following through on his initial decision.

Losing Wilson will undoubtedly be a knock to Oregon’s 2013 class, but Helfrich has to focus on regrouping his other commitments and bringing in the potential commitments he’s trying to flip himself to limit the damage.